We grew pumpkins in our garden this year. Well, not actually "we", my husband did all the work. I did however go with him to the store to help pick out the seed packets back in May. 'Twas the least I could do :)

The thing about growing pumpkins is that you have to time your seed planting just right (aka read the back of the package for planting instructions, go figure).

Plant them too early and you'll have pumpkins ready at the end of August. Ha, we've had that happen before. Trust me, nobody is ready for pumpkins at the end of August, no matter how much you love pumpkins!

This year everything went according to plan, and package, and we (see how I'm taking credit here, haha) had a beautiful little crop of perfectly formed, orange beauties at the end of September. Not too big, not too small... just right! They're just the perfect size for decorating and a little bit of crafting.

Here is a picture of some of our pumpkins and other assorted squash we harvested this year. Nothing says Autumn quite like a big pile of squash.

With my love of painting, I thought I'd try my hand at turning a once bright orange pumpkin into something a touch more elegant and sophisticated. I don't know if I quite managed to pull it off, but it sure does look different than it did in the beginning.

-Spread out your newspaper.
-Clean off your pumpkin from any lose dirt and wipe him (or her) clean and dry.
-I always like to pour my paint into the top of the paint bottle. You can do it whatever way works the best for you.
-Using even, pulling strokes paint your entire pumpkin with the black paint.

-Allow the first coat to dry completely and then go back and give it a second coat of black paint to completely cover your pumpkin and show no streaks.

-After the top part of your pumpkin is completely dry with the two coats of black, carefully lay him on his side and paint the bottom of your pumpkin with two coats of the black paint as well. Allow to dry completely before moving on.

-Now, dip your paintbrush into your gold metallic paint and, on the newspaper, dab off the excess paint so your brush just has a light amount of paint on the actual hairs. What you're going to be doing here is what I like to call dry brushing. You're still adding color, but it's more of a transparent coverage you're looking for. It's lightly applied to give a hit of color and not an opaque coverage. *Note - You may want to practice your technique on a piece of paper or something if your nervous about this technique but seriously, it's just paint. If you don't like what you've done you can always paint over it. No rules, just fun!

-When the gold is dry, I took the time to paint the cute little stem of my pumpkin with the gold paint too. Why not, right? I think it really made a nice addition to this now *classed up* pumpkin.

-Next I gave my pumpkin a light coat of acrylic glaze and sprinkled the heck out of him with glitter while the glaze was still wet.

-Add your decorative bow and you're finished.

Here is the my completed pumpkin, shown in my living room on the sofa table. I'm thrilled with the way he turned out and it couldn't have been easier. I hope you'll give this a try.

This would made an awesome craft for the kiddies too. Of course they can do whatever design they choose. The main thing is that they have fun and let their creativity shine.

I'm happily linking this post to the following sites. Please check them out for additional creative ideas.